Technologies for secure bootstrapping of virtual network functions

ABSTRACT

Technologies for bootstrapping virtual network functions in a network functions virtualization (NFV) network architecture include a virtual network function (VNF) bootstrap service (VBS) in secure network communication with a VBS agent of a VNF instance. The VBS agent is configured to execute a secure VNF bootstrap capture protocol in the NFV network architecture. Accordingly, the VBS agent can be configured to register with the VBS via secure communications transmitted between the VBS and the VBS agent. The secure communications include transmitting a security quote from a TEE of a platform on which the VNF instance is instantiated and a security credential request to the VBS, as well as receiving a security credential in response to validating the security quote and the security credential request. Other embodiments are described and claimed.

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

The present application is a continuation application of U.S.application Ser. No. 15/437,754, entitled “TECHNOLOGIES FOR SECUREBOOTSTRAPPING OF VIRTUAL NETWORK FUNCTIONS,” which was filed on Feb. 21,2017, and which is a continuation of U.S. application Ser. No.14/709,170, entitled “TECHNOLOGIES FOR SECURE BOOTSTRAPPING OF VIRTUALNETWORK FUNCTIONS,” which was filed on May 11, 2015.

BACKGROUND

Network operators and service providers typically rely on variousnetwork virtualization technologies to manage complex, large-scalecomputing environments, such as high-performance computing (HPC) andcloud computing environments. For example, network operators and serviceprovider networks may rely on network function virtualization (NFV)deployments to deploy network services (e.g., firewall services, networkaddress translation (NAT) services, load-balancing services, deep packetinspection (DPI) services, transmission control protocol (TCP)optimization services, etc.). Such NFV deployments typically use an NFVinfrastructure to orchestrate various virtual machines (VMs) and/orcontainers (e.g., in a commodity server) to perform virtualized networkservices, commonly referred to as virtualized network functions (VNFs),on network traffic and to manage the network traffic across the variousVMs and/or containers.

Unlike traditional, non-virtualized deployments, virtualized deploymentsdecouple network functions from underlying hardware, which results innetwork functions and services that are highly dynamic and generallycapable of being executed on off-the-shelf servers with general purposeprocessors. As such, the VNFs can be scaled-in/out as necessary based onparticular functions or network services to be performed on the networktraffic. Further, the VNFs can be deployed across geographies, on hostedinfrastructure, etc., as a per subscriber demand

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

The concepts described herein are illustrated by way of example and notby way of limitation in the accompanying figures. For simplicity andclarity of illustration, elements illustrated in the figures are notnecessarily drawn to scale. Where considered appropriate, referencelabels have been repeated among the figures to indicate corresponding oranalogous elements.

FIG. 1 is a simplified block diagram of at least one embodiment of asystem for processing network communications at a network functionsvirtualization (NFV) network architecture that includes one or morecomputing nodes of an NFV infrastructure;

FIG. 2 is a simplified block diagram of at least one embodiment of oneof the computing nodes of the system of FIG. 1;

FIG. 3 is a simplified block diagram of at least one embodiment of anendpoint device of the system of FIG. 1;

FIG. 4 is a simplified block diagram of at least one embodiment of theNFV network architecture of the system of FIG. 1;

FIG. 5 is a simplified block diagram of at least one embodiment of anenvironment of the NFV security services controller of FIGS. 1 and 4;

FIG. 6 is a simplified block diagram of at least one embodiment of anenvironment of a virtual network function (VNF) instance of the NFVnetwork architecture of FIG. 4;

FIG. 7 is a simplified flow diagram of at least one embodiment of amethod for initializing a secure VNF bootstrap that may be executed bythe NFV security services controller of FIG. 5;

FIG. 8 is a simplified flow diagram of at least one embodiment of acommunication flow for securely bootstrapping one of the VNF instancesof the NFV network architecture of FIG. 4;

FIG. 9 is a simplified flow diagram of at least one embodiment of amethod for executing a secure VNF bootstrap capture protocol that may beexecuted by a VNF bootstrap service (VBS) agent of the VNF instance ofFIG. 6;

FIG. 10 is a simplified flow diagram of at least one embodiment of acommunication flow for executing a secure VNF bootstrap capture protocolat one of the VNF instances of the NFV network architecture of FIG. 4;and

FIG. 11 is a simplified flow diagram of at least one embodiment of amethod for performing a TEE quoting operation that may be executed by atrusted execution environment (TEE) of one of the platforms of the NFVnetwork architecture of FIG. 4.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

While the concepts of the present disclosure are susceptible to variousmodifications and alternative forms, specific embodiments thereof havebeen shown by way of example in the drawings and will be describedherein in detail. It should be understood, however, that there is nointent to limit the concepts of the present disclosure to the particularforms disclosed, but on the contrary, the intention is to cover allmodifications, equivalents, and alternatives consistent with the presentdisclosure and the appended claims.

References in the specification to “one embodiment,” “an embodiment,”“an illustrative embodiment,” etc., indicate that the embodimentdescribed may include a particular feature, structure, orcharacteristic, but every embodiment may or may not necessarily includethat particular feature, structure, or characteristic. Moreover, suchphrases are not necessarily referring to the same embodiment. Further,when a particular feature, structure, or characteristic is described inconnection with an embodiment, it is submitted that it is within theknowledge of one skilled in the art to effect such feature, structure,or characteristic in connection with other embodiments whether or notexplicitly described. Additionally, it should be appreciated that itemsincluded in a list in the form of “at least one of A, B, and C” can mean(A); (B); (C): (A and B); (A and C); (B and C); or (A, B, and C).Similarly, items listed in the form of “at least one of A, B, or C” canmean (A); (B); (C): (A and B); (A and C); (B and C); or (A, B, and C).

The disclosed embodiments may be implemented, in some cases, inhardware, firmware, software, or any combination thereof. The disclosedembodiments may also be implemented as instructions carried by or storedon one or more transitory or non-transitory machine-readable (e.g.,computer-readable) storage media, which may be read and executed by oneor more processors. A machine-readable storage medium may be embodied asany storage device, mechanism, or other physical structure for storingor transmitting information in a form readable by a machine (e.g., avolatile or non-volatile memory, a media disc, or other media device).

In the drawings, some structural or method features may be shown inspecific arrangements and/or orderings. However, it should beappreciated that such specific arrangements and/or orderings may not berequired. Rather, in some embodiments, such features may be arranged ina different manner and/or order than shown in the illustrative figures.Additionally, the inclusion of a structural or method feature in aparticular figure is not meant to imply that such feature is required inall embodiments and, in some embodiments, may not be included or may becombined with other features.

Referring now to FIG. 1, in an illustrative embodiment, a system 100 forprocessing network traffic at a network functions virtualization (NFV)network architecture 116 includes a number of network processingcomponents, including an NFV orchestrator 104, a virtual infrastructuremanager (VIM) 106, and an NFV infrastructure 108. Additionally, the NFVnetwork architecture 116 includes an NFV security services controller102 for managing and enforcing security monitoring and secure messagetransmission (e.g., setting up secure communication channels,authenticating messages transmitted across the secure communicationchannels, maintaining security of the secure communication channels,etc.) over the NFV network architecture 116. As part of theinitialization process of a virtual network function (VNF) instance ofthe NFV network architecture 116, the NFV security services controller102 provides a secure message to a previously instantiated VNF instanceof the NFV infrastructure 108 that indicates to the VNF instance toperform a secure bootstrap. To do so, the NFV security servicescontroller 102 includes a VNF bootstrap service (see FIG. 4) and the VNFinstance includes a VNF bootstrap service (VBS) agent (see FIG. 4),which is responsible for performing the secure bootstrap andtransmitting/receiving messages. Accordingly, the VNF instance can usethe VBS agent to register with the NFV security services controller 102as an operational VNF instance and receive VNF bootstrap information,such as start-up policies, configuration information, and securelyregister as an operational VNF instance. Additionally, in someembodiments, the VBS agent can enable VNF instance licensing andenforcement.

The network processing and security monitoring components of the NFVnetwork architecture 116 can be deployed in various virtualizationnetwork architectures, such as a virtual Evolved Packet Core (vEPC)infrastructure, a virtualized Customer Premise Equipment (vCPE)infrastructure, or any other type of operator visualizedinfrastructures. It should be appreciated that, depending on the networkarchitecture in which the NFV network architecture 116 is deployed, theNFV network architecture 116 may include one or more NFV securityservices controllers 102, one or more NFV orchestrators 104, one or moreVIMs 106, and/or one or more NFV infrastructures 108. It should befurther appreciated that, in some embodiments, the NFV security servicescontroller 102 may be co-located with the NFV orchestrator 104 and/orthe VIM 106, such as in an NFV management and orchestration (MANO)architectural framework.

The NFV infrastructure 108 includes one or more computing nodes 110capable of managing (e.g., creating, moving, destroying, etc.) a numberof VMs and/or containers (e.g., in a commodity server) that areconfigured to run as VNF instances. Each VNF instance typically relieson one or more VMs, which may be running different software and/orprocesses to perform network services on network traffic (e.g., firewallservices, network address translation (NAT) services, load-balancingservices, deep packet inspection (DPI) services, transmission controlprotocol (TCP) optimization services, etc.). Further, to provide certainnetwork services, multiple VNF instances may be created as a servicefunction chain, or a VNF forwarding graph (i.e., a series of VNFinstances performed in an ordered sequence to implement the desirednetwork service).

The NFV security services controller 102 may be embodied as, orotherwise include, any type of hardware, software, and/or firmwarecapable of performing the functions described herein. As will bedescribed in further detail below, the NFV security services controller102 is configured to function as a security monitoring orchestrator. Todo so, the NFV security services controller 102 is configured totransmit a security monitoring policy that includes various monitoringrules, which include secure communication path policies, configurationparameters, and function descriptors to components throughout the NFVnetwork architecture 116 (e.g., the VNF instances located in the NFVnetwork architecture 116). The various security functions may include,but are not limited to, securing service function chaining (SFC)provisioning, enforcing SFC security configuration and monitoring,providing confidentiality protected tokens, managing protected policytransmission, and providing inter-VNF SFC path protection.

To retrieve and/or update the security monitoring policies, the NFVsecurity services controller 102 may be configured to interface with oneor more external security systems (e.g., an Intel® Security Controller),security databases, and/or security policy engines. To communicate withthe external security systems, the NFV security services controller 102may deliver an application programming interface (API) and/or thesecurity policy to the external security services orchestration systems.In some embodiments, the NFV security services controller 102 may act asa trusted third party to authenticate messages across the variousnetwork and security monitoring components of the NFV networkarchitecture 116. It should be appreciated that, in some embodiments,the NFV security services controller 102 may have a higher securityprivilege than the other network and security monitoring components ofthe NFV network architecture 116 to ensure the integrity and security ofthe NFV security services controller 102.

The NFV orchestrator 104 may be embodied as, or otherwise include, anytype of hardware, software, and/or firmware capable of performing thefunctions described herein, such as managing the lifecycle of the VNFinstances (e.g., instantiation, scale-out/in, performance measurements,event correlation, termination, etc.) via a VNF manager (see FIG. 4),managing global resources, validating and authorizing resource requestsof the NFV infrastructure 108, on-boarding of new VNF instances, and/ormanaging various policies and packages for the VNF instances. Forexample, the NFV orchestrator 104 may be configured to receive resourcerequests from a network operator that impacts a particular VNF. In use,the NFV orchestrator 104 manages any applicable processing, storage,and/or network configuration adjustments, based on the operatorrequests, to bring the VNF into operation or into compliance with theresource requests. Once in operation, the NFV orchestrator 104 maymonitor the VNF for capacity and utilization, which may be adjusted bythe NFV orchestrator 104, as necessary.

The VIM 106 may be embodied as, or otherwise include, any type ofhardware, software, and/or firmware capable of performing the functionsdescribed herein. The VIM 106 is configured to control and managecompute, storage, and network resources (e.g., physical and virtual) ofthe NFV infrastructure 108, such as within one operator's infrastructuresub-domain. Additionally, the VIM 106 is configured to collect andforward various information related to the VIM 106, such as performancemeasurements and events.

The NFV infrastructure 108 may be embodied as, or otherwise include, anytype of virtual and/or physical processing and storage resources, suchas one or more servers or other computing nodes, as well asvirtualization software. For example, the illustrative NFVinfrastructure 108 includes one or more computing nodes 110. Theillustrative computing nodes 110 include a first computing node, whichis designated as computing node (1) 112, and a second computing node,which is designated as computing node (N) 114 (i.e., the “Nth” computingnode of the computing nodes 110, wherein “N” is a positive integer anddesignates one or more additional computing nodes 110).

Each of the computing nodes 110 may be embodied as any type ofcomputation or computer device capable of performing the functionsdescribed herein, including, without limitation, a server (e.g.,stand-alone, rack-mounted, blade, etc.), a network appliance (e.g.,physical or virtual), a high-performance computing device, a webappliance, a distributed computing system, a computer, a processor-basedsystem, a multiprocessor system, a smartphone, a tablet computer, alaptop computer, a notebook computer, and/or a mobile computing device.As shown in FIG. 2, in an embodiment, each of the computing nodes 110illustratively includes a processor 202, an input/output (I/O) subsystem206, a memory 208, a data storage device 214, a secure clock 216, andcommunication circuitry 218. Of course, the computing node 110 mayinclude other or additional components, such as those commonly found ina server (e.g., various input/output devices), in other embodiments.Additionally, in some embodiments, one or more of the illustrativecomponents may be incorporated in, or otherwise form a portion of,another component. For example, the memory 208, or portions thereof, maybe incorporated in the processor 202 in some embodiments.

The processor 202 may be embodied as any type of processor capable ofperforming the functions described herein. For example, the processor202 may be embodied as a single or multi-core processor(s), digitalsignal processor, microcontroller, or other processor orprocessing/controlling circuit. The illustrative processor 202 includesone or more trusted execution environment (TEE) supports 204, or secureenclave supports, which may be utilized by the computing node 110 inestablishing a trusted execution environment. It should be appreciatedthat, in some embodiments, the TEE supports 204 providehardware-reinforced security for the trusted execution environment inwhich executing code may be measured, verified, or otherwise determinedto be authentic. For example, the TEE supports 204 may be embodied asIntel® Software Guard Extensions (SGX) technology. Although the TEEsupports 204 are illustratively shown in the processor 202, it should beappreciated that, in some embodiments, one or more of the othercomponents of the computing node 110 may include the TEE supports 204.Further, in some embodiments, processor 202 of the computing node 110may include a security engine (e.g., security engine 224 discussedbelow), a manageability engine, or a security co-processor configured toutilize the TEE supports 204 to establish a trusted executionenvironment.

The memory 208 may be embodied as any type of volatile or non-volatilememory or data storage capable of performing the functions describedherein. In operation, the memory 208 may store various data and softwareused during operation of the computing node 110 such as operatingsystems, applications, programs, libraries, and drivers. The memory 208is communicatively coupled to the processor 202 via the I/O subsystem206, which may be embodied as circuitry and/or components to facilitateinput/output operations with the processor 202, the memory 208, andother components of the computing node 110. For example, the I/Osubsystem 206 may be embodied as, or otherwise include, memorycontroller hubs, input/output control hubs, firmware devices,communication links (i.e., point-to-point links, bus links, wires,cables, light guides, printed circuit board traces, etc.) and/or othercomponents and subsystems to facilitate the input/output operations.

The illustrative memory 208 includes a secure memory 210. In someembodiments, the secure memory 210 may be embodied as a secure partitionof the memory 208; whereas, in other embodiments, the secure memory 210may be embodied or included on a separate hardware component of thecomputing node 110. As described herein, the secure memory 210 may storevarious data provisioned to the computing node 110. For example, thesecure memory 210 may store a secure key (e.g., an attestation key, aprivate direct anonymous attestation (DAA) key, an Enhanced PrivacyIdentification (EPID) key, or any other type of secure/cryptographickey) of the computing node 110 that may be provisioned by a manufacturerof the chipset and/or of a trusted execution environment. The securememory 210 may also store a password, PIN, or other unique identifier ofthe computing node 110 provisioned therein, for example, by an originalequipment manufacturer (OEM) of the computing node 110. Of course, itshould be appreciated that the secure memory 210 may store various otherdata depending on the particular embodiment (e.g., group names, deviceidentifiers, whitelists, expected PIN values, etc.). In someembodiments, the provisioned data may be stored in read-only memory ofthe secure memory 210.

The illustrative memory 208 additionally includes a basic input/outputsystem (BIOS) 212. The BIOS 212 includes instructions (e.g., a BIOSdriver used during booting of the computing node 110) to initialize thecomputing node 110 during the boot process. In some embodiments, thecomputing node 110 may facilitate the orchestration of the VNF instancesthrough a main platform firmware, or pre-boot firmware, such as anextension of the Intel® platform chipset or the platform BIOS 212 basedon the Unified Extensible Firmware Interface (“UEFI”) specification,which has several versions published by the Unified EFI Forum.

The data storage device 214 may be embodied as any type of device ordevices configured for short-term or long-term storage of data such as,for example, memory devices and circuits, memory cards, hard diskdrives, solid-state drives, or other data storage devices. In use, asdescribed below, the data storage device 214 and/or the memory 208 maystore security monitoring policies, configuration policies, or other,similar data.

The secure clock 216 may be embodied as any hardware component(s) orcircuitry capable of providing a secure timing signal and otherwiseperforming the functions described herein. For example, in theillustrative embodiment, the secure clock 216 may generate a timingsignal that is separate and functionally independent from other clocksources of the computing node 110. Accordingly, in such embodiments, thesecure clock 216 may be immune or resistant to alteration by otherentities such as, for example, software executing on the computing node110. It should be appreciated that, in some embodiments, the secureclock 216 may be embodied as standalone component(s) or circuitry,whereas in other embodiments the secure clock 216 may be integrated withor form a secure portion of another component (e.g., the processor 202).For example, in some embodiments, the secure clock 216 may beimplemented via an on-chip oscillator and/or embodied as a secure clockof a manageability engine (ME). It should further be appreciated thatthe secure clock 216 may be synchronized to the secure clocks of theother computing nodes 110 and granularity may be of the order that candistinguish distinct message timings.

The communication circuitry 218 of the computing node 110 may beembodied as any communication circuit, device, or collection thereof,capable of enabling communications between the computing node 110 andanother computing node 110, the NFV orchestrator 104, the VIM 106, theendpoint devices 118, 120, and/or other connected network enabledcomputing node. The communication circuitry 218 may be configured to useany one or more communication technology (e.g., wired or wirelesscommunications) and associated protocols (e.g., Ethernet, Bluetooth®,Wi-Fi®, WiMAX, GSM, LTE, etc.) to effect such communication. Theillustrative communication circuitry 218 includes a network interfacecard (NIC) 220 and a switch 222. The NIC 220 may be embodied as one ormore add-in-boards, daughtercards, network interface cards, controllerchips, chipsets, or other devices that may be used by the computing node110. For example, the NIC 220 may be embodied as an expansion cardcoupled to the I/O subsystem 206 over an expansion bus, such as PCIExpress. The switch 222 may be embodied as any hardware component(s) orcircuitry capable of performing network switch operations and otherwiseperforming the functions described herein, such as an Ethernet switchchip, a PCI Express switching chip, etc.

As discussed above, the computing node 110 may also include a securityengine 224, which may be embodied as any hardware component(s) orcircuitry capable of establishing a trusted execution environment (TEE)on the computing node 110. In particular, the security engine 224 maysupport executing code and/or accessing data that is independent andsecure from other code executed by the computing node 110. The securityengine 224 may be embodied as a Trusted Platform Module (TPM), amanageability engine (ME), an out-of-band processor, or other securityengine device or collection of devices (e.g., a trusted zone (TZ) of anan ARM® processor). In some embodiments the security engine 224 may beembodied as a converged security and manageability engine (CSME)incorporated in a system-on-a-chip (SoC) of the computing node 110.

Referring again to FIG. 1, the illustrative NFV network architecture 116is communicatively coupled between the two endpoint devices 118, 120. Inthe illustrative system 100, the first endpoint device is designated asendpoint device (1) 118 and the second endpoint device is designated asendpoint device (2) 120. However, it should be appreciated that anynumber of endpoint devices may be connected through the NFV networkarchitecture 116. The endpoint devices 118, 120 are communicativelycoupled with the NFV network architecture 116 via a network (not shown),using wired or wireless technology, to form an end-to-end communicationsystem in which the endpoint device (1) can communicate with theendpoint device (2), and vice versa. Accordingly, the NFV networkarchitecture 116 can monitor and process the network communicationtraffic (i.e., network packets) transmitted between the endpoint devices118, 120.

The network, via which the endpoint devices 118, 120 communicate, may beembodied as any type of wired or wireless communication network,including cellular networks, such as Global System for MobileCommunications (GSM) or Long-Term Evolution (LTE), telephony networks,digital subscriber line (DSL) networks, cable networks, local or widearea networks, global networks (e.g., the Internet), or any combinationthereof. For example, in some embodiments, the network may be embodiedas an NFV-based Long-Term Evolution (LTE) network having a vEPCarchitecture. It should be appreciated that the network may serve as acentralized network and, in some embodiments, may be communicativelycoupled to another network (e.g., the Internet). Accordingly, thenetwork may include a variety of network devices, virtual and physical,such as routers, switches, network hubs, servers, storage devices,compute devices, etc., as needed to facilitate communication between theendpoint devices 118, 120 and the NFV network architecture 116.

The endpoint devices 118, 120 may be embodied as any type of computationor computer device capable of performing the functions described herein,including, without limitation, a smartphone, a mobile computing device,a tablet computer, a laptop computer, a notebook computer, a computer, aserver (e.g., stand-alone, rack-mounted, blade, etc.), a networkappliance (e.g., physical or virtual), a web appliance, a distributedcomputing system, a processor-based system, and/or a multiprocessorsystem. As shown in FIG. 3, similar to the computing node 110 of FIG. 2,the illustrative endpoint device (e.g., one of the endpoint devices 118,120 of FIG. 1) includes a processor 302, an input/output (I/O) subsystem304, a memory 306, a data storage device 308, one or more peripheraldevices 310, and communication circuitry 312. As such, furtherdescriptions of the like components are not repeated herein for clarityof the description with the understanding that the description of thecorresponding components provided above in regard to the computing node110 applies equally to the corresponding components of the endpointdevices 118, 120.

Of course, the endpoint devices 118, 120 may include other or additionalcomponents, such as those commonly found in a mobile computing devicecapable of operating in a telecommunications infrastructure in otherembodiments (e.g., various input/output devices). Additionally, in someembodiments, one or more of the illustrative components may beincorporated in, or otherwise form a portion of, another component. Theperipheral devices 310 may include any number of input/output devices,interface devices, and/or other peripheral devices. For example, in someembodiments, the peripheral devices 310 may include a display, touchscreen, graphics circuitry, keyboard, mouse, speaker system, and/orother input/output devices, interface devices, and/or peripheraldevices.

Referring now to FIG. 4, an illustrative embodiment of the NFV networkarchitecture 116 of FIG. 1 for securely bootstrapping a VNF of the NFVnetwork architecture 116 includes the NFV security services controller102, the NFV orchestrator 104, the VIM 106, and the NFV infrastructure108 of FIG. 1, as well as a VNF manager 410. As described previously, inuse, the NFV orchestrator 104 manages the lifecycle of the VNF instancesin the NFV infrastructure 108, including instantiation, scaling-out/in,measuring performance, correlating events, termination, etc. To do so,the NFV orchestrator 104 is configured to provide instructions to theVNF manager 410 via a secure communication channel 406 to manage theinitialization and configuration (i.e., scaling and deployment) of theVNF instances of the NFV infrastructure 108 (see the VNF instances 440)based on resources of the NFV infrastructure 108.

The VNF manager 410 is further configured to perform overallcoordination and adaptation for configuration and event reporting forthe NFV infrastructure 108. The VNF manager 410 is additionallyconfigured to update and ensure the integrity of the VNF instances. Todo so, the VNF manager 410 is configured to communicate with the VIM 106via a secure communication channel 414 to determine the availablephysical resources on which to instantiate particular VNF instances. Itshould be appreciated that the VIM 106 may make such a determinationusing any suitable techniques, algorithms, and/or mechanisms. It shouldbe further appreciated that, in some embodiments a single VNF manger 410may be responsible for managing one or more VNF instances. In otherwords, in some embodiments, a VNF manager 410 may be instantiated foreach of the VNF instances.

The NFV network architecture 116 additionally includes an operationssupport systems and business support systems (OSS/BSS) 402 that iscommunicatively coupled to the NFV orchestrator 104 via a communicationchannel 404. The OSS/BSS 402 may be embodied as any type of computationor computing node capable of performing the functions described herein,such as supporting various end-to-end telecommunication services in atelephone network. In some embodiments, the OSS/BSS 402 may beconfigured to support management functions such as network inventory,service provisioning, network configuration, and fault management, aswell as various business functions to support end-to-endtelecommunication services that may be supported by the OSS/BSS 402,such as product management, customer management, revenue management,order management, etc.

The NFV security services controller 102 is communicatively coupled tothe NFV orchestrator 104 via a secure communication channel 416. Itshould be appreciated that, in some embodiments, the NFV securityservices controller 102 and the NFV orchestrator 104 may be co-located,such as in the MANO architectural framework. Further, the NFV securityservices controller 102 is communicatively coupled to the VIM 106 via asecure communication channel 428 and the NFV orchestrator 104 iscommunicatively coupled to the VIM 106 via a secure communicationchannel 408. The secure communication channels of the NFV networkarchitecture 116 (e.g., the secure communication channel 406, the securecommunication channel 414, etc.) may be protected with secure keys(e.g., session keys and/or other cryptographic keys) used by the NFVsecurity services controller 102 to establish a root of trust (RoT) toestablish the communication channels. In some embodiments, the securekeys may be embodied as pairwise session keys that may be refreshedperiodically. As such, the NFV security services controller 102 can beconfigured to act as an authentication server.

The NFV security services controller 102 includes the VNF bootstrapservice (VBS) 420 that is configured to manage the VBS agents, describedfurther below, of the VNF instances in the NFV infrastructure 108. Inuse, the VBS 420 manages the secure bootstrap process (i.e., executionof the secure VNF bootstrap capture protocol of FIGS. 9 and 10) from atrust anchor perspective. Accordingly, in some embodiments, the NFVsecurity services controller 102 may additionally include a trustedexecution environment (TEE) 422 in which the VBS 420 may reside. Itshould be appreciated, however, that in some embodiments, the VBS 420may reside outside of the NFV security services controller 102, such ason a dedicated VBS server. In such embodiments, the VBS 420 may still berun in a TEE.

Additionally, the illustrative NFV security services controller 102interfaces with a security audit and forensic database 426. The securityaudit and forensic database 426 is embodied as a secure database thatincludes security audit information relative to the various securitymonitoring components of the NFV network architecture 116. The securityaudit information may include any information related to the security ofthe NFV network architecture 116 including, for example, configurationchange logs, network traces, debug traces, application traces, etc. Inthe illustrative NFV network architecture 116, the security audit andforensic database 426 is additionally configured to interface with othernetwork and security monitoring components of the NFV networkarchitecture 116, such as the VIM 106 and the various NFV securityservices agents distributed across the NFV network architecture 116,which will be discussed in further detail below. In some embodiments,the various security monitoring components of the illustrative NFVnetwork architecture 116 that interface with the security audit andforensic database 426 may use a secure clock (e.g., the secure clock 216of FIG. 2) to timestamp the logs received at the security audit andforensic database 426 for secure storage.

As described previously, in use, the VIM 106 controls and manages theallocation of virtual and physical (i.e., hardware) compute, storage,and network resources of the NFV infrastructure 108 through messagessecurely transmitted via a secure communication channel 478.Additionally, in some embodiments, the VIM 106 may be configured tocollect and securely forward performance measurements and events of theNFV infrastructure 108 compute, storage, and network resources (e.g.,physical and virtual) to the security audit and forensic database 426.The illustrative VIM 106 includes a VIM controller 430. The VIMcontroller 430 is configured to function as a cloud operating system VNFinstall and activate service. For example, in some embodiments, the VIMcontroller may be embodied as a network policy controller, or anetworking service controller (e.g., a software defined networking (SDN)controller or an OpenStack Neutron), or as a compute service controller(e.g., Openstack Nova). Additionally or alternatively, in someembodiments, the VIM controller 430 may be embodied as an image servicecontroller, an identity service controller, etc.

The NFV infrastructure 108 includes all of the hardware and softwarecomponents (i.e., virtual compute, storage, and network resources,virtualization software, hardware compute, storage, and networkresources, etc.) of the computing nodes 110 from which the VNF instancesmay be deployed. It should be appreciated that the physical and/orvirtual components of the NFV infrastructure 108 may span acrossdifferent locations, data centers, geographies, providers, etc.Additionally, it should be further appreciated that the network throughwhich the components of the NFV infrastructure 108 use to communicateand interface through may be considered to be included in the NFVinfrastructure 108.

The illustrative NFV infrastructure 108 includes a number of VNFinstances 440 and an operator infrastructure 460. The operatorinfrastructure 460 includes one or more platforms 470, the BIOS 212 ofFIG. 2, and a hypervisor 462. The operator infrastructure 460 mayinclude multiple different network infrastructures for deploying the VNFinstances 440. Accordingly, an operator can use the multiple differentnetwork infrastructures to deploy on the NFV infrastructure 108 (i.e., aphysical infrastructure) or on another operators physicalinfrastructure, as well as on a third party cloud hosting infrastructureand/or at a customer's premises on customer equipment, etc. For example,deployment scenarios may include a monolithic operator operating in aprivate cloud model, a network operator hosting virtual networkoperators in a hybrid cloud, a hosted network operator, hostedcommunications and application providers in a public cloud model,managed network services on customer premises/equipment, etc.

The illustrative platforms 470 include a first platform, which isdesignated as platform (1) 472, and a second platform, which isdesignated as platform (N) 474 (i.e., the “Nth” platform, wherein “N” isa positive integer and designates one or more additional platforms).Each of the platforms 470 includes the I/O subsystem 206, the NIC 220(or the switch 222), and the data storage of FIG. 2. Each of theplatforms 470 additionally includes an identifier (e.g., a BIOS 212(UEFI) identifier) unique to that platform, which can be stored in asecure location (e.g., the secure memory 210). The unique platformidentifier may be a combination hash, or globally unique identifier(GUID), of a hardware identifier, an original equipment manufacturer(OEM) board identifier, a BIOS/UEFI stock keeping unit (SKU) identifier,a field replaceable unit (FRU) identifier, an operating system versionidentifier, etc.

The illustrative platform (1) 472 additionally includes a TEE 476. TheTEE 476 may be established by a CSME, an SGX, an IE, an ME, or aphysical, virtual (i.e., software-based), or firmware TPM (e.g., afirmware TPM on the security engine 224 that consists of a securepartition, a security co-processor or separate processor core, etc.) ina secure environment (e.g., the TEE supports 204 of the processor 202).Additionally, the TEE 476 can be securely provisioned in the platform(1) 472 through a secure provisioning procedure with the NFV securityservices controller 102. In some embodiments, the secure provisioningprocedure may be performed via a bootstrap with the NFV securityservices controller 102. Additionally or alternatively, in someembodiments, the secure provisioning procedure may be performed offline.

The hypervisor 462, or virtual machine monitor (VMM), is configured toestablish and/or utilize various virtualized hardware resources (e.g.,virtual memory, virtual operating systems, virtual networkingcomponents, etc.) of the NFV infrastructure 108. Additionally, thehypervisor 462 may facilitate communication across the VNF instances440. The illustrative hypervisor 462 includes one or more cloudoperating system agents 464 that may be configured to bolster cloudservice discovery, service negotiation, and/or service composition. Insome embodiments, the hypervisor 462 may additionally include a TEE 466that is configured to function similar to the TEE 476, but at thevirtual, or hypervisor, level of the NFV infrastructure 108.

The hypervisor 462, in use, runs the VNF instances 440, generally viaone or more VMs and/or containers for running each of the VNF instances440. In some embodiments, the VNF instances 440 may include a billingfunction, a virtual switch (vSwitch), a virtual router (vRouter), afirewall, a network address translation (NAT), a DPI, an evolved packetcore (EPC), a mobility management entity (MME), a packet data networkgateway (PGW), a serving gateway (SGW), and/or other virtual networkfunction. In some embodiments, a particular VNF instance 440 may havemultiple sub-instances, which could be executing on a single platform(e.g., the platform 472) or across different platforms (e.g., theplatform 472 and the platform 474). In other words, when virtualized,network functions traditionally handled by physical hardware co-locatedwith a particular platform may be distributed as a number of VNFinstances 440 across one or more of the platforms 480.

Each of the VNF instances 440 may include one or more VNF instances. Forexample, in some embodiments, any of the VNF instances 440 may bundlemultiple VNF instances of a service function chain. Further, each of theVNF instances may include one or more VNF components (VNFCs) (notshown). It should be appreciated that the VNF instances 440 may beembodied as any suitable virtual network functions; similarly, the VNFCsmay be embodied as any suitable VNF components. The VNFCs are processesand/or instances that cooperate to deliver the functionality of one ormore VNF instances 440. For example, in some embodiments, the VNFCs maybe sub-modules of the VNF instances 440. Similar to the VNF instances440, it should be appreciated that the VNFCs may be distributed acrossone or more platforms 470. It should be further appreciated that aparticular VNF instance 440 may be distributed across multiple platforms470 and still form a part of a VNF instance 440 established on a one ofthe platforms 470. In such embodiments, the VNF instances 440 and/or theVNFCs may be executing on the same platform (e.g., the platform 472 orthe platform 474) or within the same data center but on differentplatforms 470. Further, in some embodiments, the VNF instances 440and/or the VNFCs may be executing across different data centers. Similarto the hypervisor 462 facilitating communication across the VNFinstances 440, the hypervisor 462 may additionally facilitatecommunications across the VNFCs.

The illustrative VNF instances 440 include a first VNF instance, whichis designated as VNF (1) 442, a second VNF instance, which is designatedas VNF (2) 444, and a third VNF instance, which is designated as VNF (N)446 (i.e., the “Nth” VNF, wherein “N” is a positive integer anddesignates one or more additional VNF instances). Each of the VNFinstances 440 are configured to perform as a virtual networking device(e.g., a vSwitch, a vRouter, a firewall, a NAT, a DPI, an EPC, an MME, aPGW, a SGW, etc.). In some embodiments, one or more VNF instances 440may comprise a service function chain that is capable of performing aparticular virtual function or service. One or more of the VNF instances440 may include a packet processor (not shown) to process the networktraffic at the user data plane, such as the Intel® Data PlaneDevelopment Kit (Intel® DPDK).

Similar to the identifier unique to each of the platforms 470, each ofthe VNF instances 440 includes a unique identifier. The unique VNFinstance identifier of the VNF instance 440 may be a combination hash,or a GUID, of an image of the VNF instance 440, a VNF descriptoridentifier, a VNF command line identifier, a VNF OEM identifier, a VNFvendor identifier, and/or VNFC identifiers. Accordingly, the unique VNFinstance identifier may be used by the NFV security services controller102, the VIM 106, and/or the VNF manager 410 when securely communicatingwith the VNF instances 440. For example, the VIM 106 may initiate thespinning up a VNF instance at the NFV infrastructure 108 via a securecommunication channel 478 using the unique VNF instance identifier.Similarly, the VNF manager 410 may use the unique VNF instanceidentifier when setting up a management session with a particular VNFinstance 440 via a secure communication channel 418.

Each of the illustrative VNF instances 440 includes a VBS agent (i.e., aVBS agent 448 of the VNF (1) 442, a VBS agent 450 of the VNF (2) 444,and a VBS agent 452 of the VNF (N) 446) to securely bootstrap each ofthe VNF instances 440 to enable the VNF instances 440 to be provisionedsecurely, such as with a root credential. Further, each of theillustrative VNF instances is in secure network communication with theVBS 420 of the NFV security services controller 102 via a securecommunication channel 424, as well as the operator infrastructure 460(i.e., via secure communication channels 454, 456, 458).

As will be described in further detail below, each VBS agent 448, 450,452 is configured to perform a secure bootstrap process (i.e., theexecution of the secure VNF bootstrap capture protocol of FIGS. 9 and10). To do so, each VBS agent 448, 450, 452 is configured to instantiatea previously spun-up VNF instance, create a public/private key pair(i.e., a public key and a private key) to be used for security incommunicating with the NFV security services controller 102 when runningthe secure bootstrap process, and run the secure bootstrap process. Itshould be appreciated that, in some embodiments, the NFV infrastructure108 may additionally include other VNF instances that do not include aVBS agent.

As described previously, the VNF instances 440 may bundle more than oneVNF, such as may be required in a service function chain. In suchembodiments, the secure bootstrap process can be used to bootstrap theentire service function chain. Additionally, in embodiments wherein theVNF instances 440 are factored along the control plane and the dataplane, the secure bootstrap process can be utilized in a one to one, oneto many, or many to many control plane and data plane VNF instances.

Referring now to FIG. 5, in use, the NFV security services controller102 establishes an environment 500 during operation. The illustrativeenvironment 500 of the NFV security services controller 102 includes asecure communication module 510 and the VNF bootstrapping service 420 ofFIG. 4. Additionally, the VNF bootstrapping service 420 includes a VBSagent communication module 520, a VBS agent registration module 530.

The various modules of the environment 500 may be embodied as hardware,firmware, software, or a combination thereof. For example, the variousmodules, logic, and other components of the environment 500 may form aportion of, or otherwise be established by hardware components of theNFV security services controller 102. As such, in some embodiments, anyone or more of the modules of the environment 500 may be embodied as acircuit or collection of electrical devices (e.g., a securecommunication circuit, a VBS agent communication circuit, and a VBSagent registration circuit, etc.). Additionally or alternatively, insome embodiments, one or more of the illustrative modules may form aportion of another module and/or one or more of the illustrative modulesand/or submodules, which may be embodied as standalone or independentmodules.

The secure communication module 510 is configured to facilitate securecommunications (i.e., messages) between the NFV security servicescontroller 102 and the various network processing components of the NFVnetwork architecture 116. To do so, the secure communication module 510is configured to secure communication paths between the NFV securityservices controller 102 and the various network processing components ofthe NFV network architecture 116 (e.g., the VIM 106, the VNF manager410, etc.). Accordingly, in some embodiments, the secure communicationmodule 510 may perform various key management functions, cryptographicfunctions, secure communication channel management, and/or othersecurity functions. For example, the secure communication module 510 canbe configured to secure the communication channel between the NFVsecurity services controller 102 and the VNF manager 410 of FIG. 4(e.g., the secure communication channel 412) using pairwise session keysthat are refreshed periodically to ensure the security of communicationsbetween the NFV security services controller 102 and the VNF manager410.

The VBS agent communication module 520, similar to the securecommunication module 510, is configured to facilitate and manage securecommunications (i.e., messages) between the VBS 420 and the VBS agentsof the VNF instances 440 of the NFV infrastructure 108. The VBS agentregistration module 530 is configured to register the VBS agents uponexecution of the secure bootstrap process. To do so, the VBS agentregistration module 530 includes a VBS agent verification module 532 anda VBS agent security credential module 534.

The VBS agent verification module 532 is configured to verify securebootstrap parameters of the VBS agent (e.g., values and hashes). To doso, the VBS agent verification module 532 is be configured to verify anauthenticity of a security quote received from a VBS agent duringexecution of the VBS capture protocol, which is described in furtherdetail below. Additionally or alternatively, in some embodiments, theVBS agent verification module 532 may be configured to perform awhitelist check to verify a configuration of the VBS 420 based on one ormore provisioning parameters received by the VBS 420, or the securitycontroller 102, during a secure provisioning of the VBS 420. In someembodiments, the VBS agent verification module 532 may be additionallyor alternatively configured to detect a liveness of the messages (i.e.,that the messages have not expired, such as in a replay attack) betweenthe VBS agent and the VBS 420 using a nonce session, which is alsodescribed further below. Additionally or alternatively, in someembodiments, the VBS agent verification module 532 may be configured toverify an authenticity of a public key of the VNF instance of the VBSagent, received from the VBS agent during execution of the VBS captureprotocol.

The VBS agent security credential module 534 is configured to provide avalid security credential (e.g., a certificate, a signed hash result,etc.) for the VBS agent being registered during execution of the VBScapture protocol. To do so, the VBS agent security credential module 534may be configured to create or retrieve a valid security credential inresponse to the VBS agent verification module 532 having verified theauthenticity of the security quote and the public key of the VNFinstance, as well as having validated the liveness of the messages(i.e., that the messages are not dead, such as in a replay attack).

Referring now to FIG. 6, in use, each VNF instance (e.g., VNF instances442, 444, 446 of FIG. 4) establishes an environment 600 duringoperation. The illustrative environment 600 of the corresponding VNFinstance includes a secure communication module 610 and a VBS agent(e.g., one of the VBS agents 448, 450, 452 of FIG. 4). The illustrativeVBS agent includes a VBS communication module 620 and a VBS captureprotocol execution module 630 of the VBS agent. The various modules ofthe environment 600 may be embodied as hardware, firmware, software, ora combination thereof. For example, the various modules, logic, andother components of the environment 600 may form a portion of, orotherwise be established by hardware components of the NFV securityservices agent. As such, in some embodiments, any one or more of themodules of the environment 600 may be embodied as a circuit orcollection of electrical devices (e.g., a secure communication circuit,VBS communication circuit, and a VBS capture protocol execution circuit,etc.). Additionally or alternatively, in some embodiments, one or moreof the illustrative modules may form a portion of another module and/orone or more of the illustrative modules and/or submodules may beembodied as a standalone or independent module.

The secure communication module 610 is configured to facilitate thesecure transmission of data (i.e., messages) to and from the VBS agent.The VBS communication module 620, similar to the secure communicationmodule 610, is configured to facilitate and manage secure communications(e.g., registration data, verification data, configuration data, etc.)between the VBS agent and the VBS 420 of the NFV security servicescontroller 102, such as during the secure bootstrap process. The VBScapture protocol execution module 630 is configured to execute thesecure VNF bootstrap capture protocol, which is described in FIGS. 9 and10. To do so, the VBS capture protocol execution module 630 isconfigured to create a public/private key pair (i.e., a public key and aprivate key) and request a security quote (e.g., an attestation quote,or a digitally signed value from which a TEE can be verified orauthenticated), from a TEE of a platform on which the VNF instance isinstantiated (e.g., the TEE 476 of the platform 472 of FIG. 4).Accordingly, the TEE can attest to the identity and configuration of theVBS agent (e.g., running correct VBS agent, configured by the correctlaunch parameters, the VBS agent generated the public key beingrequested. Additionally, remote attestation can be implemented to detectpossible security threats, such as network packet tampering, networkpacket corruption, malicious content within network packets, etc.

Referring now to FIG. 7, in use, a VNF instance (e.g., one of the VNFinstances 440 of FIG. 4) may execute a method 700 for initializing asecure VNF bootstrap. The method 700 begins at block 702, in which theVNF instance determines whether an instantiation trigger was received,such as from the OSS/BSS 402 of FIG. 4. It should be appreciated that,in some embodiments, the instantiation may be automatically performedsubsequent to the VNF instance being created. If not, the method 700loops back to block 702 to continue to wait for the instantiationtrigger to be received. If the instantiation trigger was received, themethod advances to block 704. At block 704, the VNF instanceinstantiates based on a set of startup parameters (i.e., startuprequirements). It should be appreciated that the instantiated VNFinstance is not active (i.e., the VNF instance is not processing networktraffic).

At block 706, the VNF instance runs the secure VNF bootstrap captureprotocol, which is described in further detail in FIGS. 9 and 10. Atblock 708, the VNF instance determines whether an activation signal wasreceived, such as from the NFV security services controller 102 or theVNF manager 410, that indicates to activate the VNF instance (i.e., tostart processing network traffic). If not, the method 700 loops back toblock 708 to continue to wait for the activation signal to be received.If the activation signal was received, the method 700 advances to block710. At block 710, the VNF instance retrieves startup policies andconfiguration information specific to the operation to be performed bythe VNF instance.

At block 712, the VNF instance securely registers as an operational VNFinstance. To do so, the VNF instance securely transmits a registrationrequest message to the VBS 420. At block 714, the VNF instancedetermines whether a registration confirmation was received in responseto the registration request message transmitted at block 712. If not,the method 700 loops back to block 714 to continue to wait for theregistration confirmation. If the registration confirmation wasreceived, the method 700 advances to block 716. At block 716, the VNFinstance identifies a corresponding VNF manager (e.g., the VNF manager410), such as by an IP address of the VNF manager, which may be receivedwith the registration confirmation. It should be appreciated that, insome embodiments, multiple VNF managers may be present in the NFVnetwork architecture 116. Accordingly, in such embodiments, the VNFmanager that corresponds to the VNF instance may be identified by aunique identifier associated with that VNF manager, which may beprovided to the VNF instance by the NFV security services controller102. As such, in such embodiments, the VNF instance may request theunique identifier from the NFV security services controller 102 beforeadvancing.

At block 718, the VNF instance connects to the identified VNF manager.Accordingly, the identified VNF manager can manage the lifecycle of theVNF instance (e.g., instantiate, update, query, scale, terminate, etc.).In some embodiments, at block 720, the VNF instance enables VNFlicensing and enforcement. Accordingly, the licenses assigned to each ofthe VNF instances 440 can be tracked and enforced (e.g., by VNF vendorsconcerned with revenues generated by the VNF instances 440). To do so,in some embodiments, VNF license information (e.g., a license number,the unique VNF instance identifier, etc.) may be transmitted to the VNFmanager, the NFV security services controller 102, and/or a dedicatedlicense management server. At block 722, the VNF instance performs theoperation (i.e., service or function) to which the VNF instance has beeninstantiated for.

Referring now to FIG. 8, an embodiment of a communication flow 800 forsecurely bootstrapping a VNF instance (e.g., one of the VNF instances440 of FIG. 4) of the NFV network architecture 116. The illustrativecommunication flow 800 includes the NFV orchestrator 104, the VIMcontroller 430 of the VIM 106, the cloud operating system agent 464 ofthe hypervisor 462, the hypervisor 462 of NFV infrastructure 108, one ofthe VBS agents of one of the VNF instances 440 (e.g., the VBS agent 448,the VBS agent 450, or the VBS agent 452), the TEE 476 of the platform472, the VBS 420 of the NFV security services controller 102, and theVNF manager 410. The illustrative communication flow 800 additionallyincludes a number of message flows, some of which may be executedseparately or together, depending on the embodiment.

At message flow 802, the NFV orchestrator 104 securely transmits a VNFinstantiation trigger, received from the OSS/BSS 402, to the VIMcontroller 430. The VNF instantiation trigger can include signatures ofa signed VNF image and a signed VNF descriptor. The signed VNFdescriptor is a data structure that describes requirements and/ornecessary elements of the VNF image, including startup parameters (i.e.,startup requirements). At message flow 804, the TEE 476 securelyprovisions the VBS 420. To do so, the TEE 476 provides provisioningparameters and an identifier that is unique to the platform on which theVNF is to be instantiated (i.e., the unique platform identifier) to thesecurity controller 102 on which the VBS resides. Accordingly, in someembodiments, the TEE 422 may be used to securely provision the VBS 420.The provisioning parameters include a public key of the VBS 420 and anidentifier of the VBS 420, such as an IP address, a DNS, etc. Asdescribed previously, the unique platform identifier may be acombination hash, or GUID, of a hardware identifier, an OEM boardidentifier, a BIOS/UEFI SKU identifier, a FRU identifier, an operatingsystem version identifier, etc. In some embodiments, the TEE 476 maysecurely provision the VBS 420 using out of band (00B) communicationtechnologies to transmit the public key of the VBS 420 and the VBS 420identifier, as well as any other provisioning items that may be neededto securely provision the VBS 420.

At message flow 806, the VIM controller 430 verifies signatures of theinformation received with the VNF instantiation trigger, such as thesigned VNF descriptor and the signed VNF image. In some embodiments, thesigned VNF image may include more than one signed VNF images. In suchembodiments, the more than one signed VNF images may be stitched andsigned again as a group of VNF images, or delivered as separate, signedVNF images. Accordingly, each signature associated with the signed VNFimage is verified at the VIM controller 430.

At message flow 810, the VIM controller 430 securely transmits a commandto spin-up a VNF instance based on the VNF image and descriptor. Thespin-up command additionally includes a set of VBS parameters (i.e.,details of the VBS 420), which may include the public key of the VBS420, the IP address of the VBS 420, a domain name server (DNS) of theVBS 420, a fully qualified domain name (FQDN) of the VBS 420, a uniformresource locator (URL) of the VBS 420, and/or the like.

At message flow 812 the hypervisor 462 spins up a VNF instance (e.g.,one of the VNF instances 440) based on the signed VNF image and thesigned VNF descriptor. To do so, the hypervisor 462 verifies the VNFsignatures (e.g., signatures of the signed VNF image, the signed VNFdescriptor, etc.) at message flow 814 and creates a VNF instance atmessage flow 816. At message flow 818, the hypervisor 462 registers withthe TEE 476. To do so, the hypervisor 462 securely transmits anidentifier unique to the created VNF instance. The unique VNF instanceidentifier may be a combination hash, or a GUID, of a VNF image instanceidentifier, a VNF descriptor identifier, a composition of VNFCidentifiers, a VNF command line identifier, and VNF OEM identifier, aVNF vendor identifier, etc. Additionally, the hypervisor 462 maysecurely transmit configuration information of the VNF instance.

At message flow 820, the VBS agent creates a public/private key pair(i.e., a public key and a private key) for the VNF instance. At messageflow 822, the VBS agent retrieves a security quote from the TEE 476.Accordingly, remote attestation can be implemented to detect possiblesecurity threats, such as network packet tampering, network packetcorruption, malicious content within network packets, etc. To do so, theVBS agent may securely transmit VNF identification information, such asthe unique platform identifier, the unique VNF instance identifier,etc., to the TEE 476.

At message flow 824, the VBS 420 performs a secure whitelisting with theVNF manager 410. In other words, the VBS 420 adds the VNF instance tothe list or register of recognized (i.e., privileged or otherwiseapproved) VBS agents to be managed by the VNF manager 410. To do so, theVBS 420 may securely transmit VNF identification information (e.g., theunique VNF instance identifier) to the VNF manager 410 and one or moreVBS parameters (e.g., the IP address of the VBS 420, the DNS of the VBS420, etc.).

At message flow 826, the VBS agent executes the secure VNF bootstrapcapture protocol, which is shown in FIGS. 9 and 10. At message flow 828,the VBS agent activates the VNF instance. In other words, networktraffic processing is enabled at the VNF instance. At message flow 830,the VBS 420 securely transmits a VNF activated message, including theunique VNF instance identifier, to the VNF manager 410 to indicate thatthe VNF instance is now active. Similarly, at message flow 832, the VBSagent securely transmits a VNF activated message to the VNF manager 410to indicate that the VNF instance has been activated. Accordingly, theVNF activated message includes the unique VNF instance identifier.

Referring now to FIG. 9, in use, a VBS agent (e.g., the VBS agent 448,the VBS agent 450, or the VBS agent 452 of FIG. 4) may execute a method900 for executing a secure VNF bootstrap capture protocol. The method900 begins at block 902, in which the VBS agent securely transmits astart message to the VBS 420. The start message may be embodied as anytype of message that informs the VBS 420 that the respective VBS agenthas initiated. At block 904, the VBS agent securely transmits the startmessage with a nonce (e.g., a random challenge issued by the VBS agentto detect replays at the VBS 420) generated by the VBS agent to be usedfor secure authentication. At block 906, the VBS agent securely receivesa start response message from the VBS 420. At block 908, the VBS agentreceives the nonce transmitted with the start message at block 904 aspart of the start response message. Additionally, at block 910, the VBSagent receives a nonce generated by the VBS 420 as part of the startresponse message. Accordingly, a liveness detection may be performed onthe start response message to prove liveness of the response. Further,at block 912, the VBS agent receives the start response message signedby the VBS 420 using a private key of the VBS 420.

At block 914, the VBS agent securely transmits a registration requestmessage to the VBS 420. To do so, at block 916, the VBS agent securelytransmits a security quote signed by the TEE 476, using a private key ofthe TEE 476, as part of the registration request message. The securityquote, the calculation of which is described in further detail below, isa digitally signed value from which a receiver of the security quote canauthenticate the transmitter of the digitally signed value. Accordingly,remote attestation can be implemented to detect possible securitythreats, such as network packet tampering, network packet corruption,malicious content within network packets, etc. Additionally, at block918, the VBS agent securely transmits a security credential request,signed by the VBS agent using a private key of the VNF, to request asecurity credential (e.g., a certificate, a signed hash result, etc.) aspart of the registration request message. In some embodiments, thesecurity credential request may include each of the nonces generated atthe VBS 420 and the VBS agent, and a public key of the VNF instance.Additionally or alternatively, in some embodiments, the certificationrequest may also include a quote signed by the TEE 476 using the privatekey of the TEE 476.

At block 920, the VBS agent securely receives a registration requestmessage response from the VBS 420. At block 922, the registrationrequest message response received by the VBS agent includes a validsecurity credential. Additionally, at block 924, the registrationrequest message response received by the VBS agent includes an IPaddress of a corresponding VNF manager (e.g., the VNF manager 410 ofFIG. 4). At block 926, the registration request message responsereceived by the VBS agent is signed by the VBS 420 using the private keyof the VBS 420.

Referring now to FIG. 10, an embodiment of a communication flow 1000 forexecuting a secure VNF bootstrap capture protocol by a VBS agent (e.g.,the VBS agent 448, the VBS agent 450, or the VBS agent 452 of FIG. 4).The illustrative communication flow 1000 includes one of the VBS agentsof one of the VNF instances 440 (e.g.,), the TEE 476 of the platform472, and the VBS 420 of the NFV security services controller 102. Theillustrative communication flow 1000 additionally includes a number ofmessage flows, some of which may be executed separately or together,depending on the embodiment.

At message flow 1002, the VBS agent securely transmits a start messagethat includes a nonce (e.g., an arbitrary number for authentication) tothe VBS 420. At message flow 1004, the VBS 420 securely transmits astart response message to the VBS agent that includes the nonce from theVBS agent and another nonce (e.g., another arbitrary number forauthentication). Further, the start response message is signed by theVBS 420 using a private key of the VBS 420. At message flow 1006, theVBS agent securely transmits a registration request message to the VBS420. The registration request message includes a security quote (seeFIG. 11) signed by the TEE 476 using the private key signed by the TEE476. The registration request message additionally includes a securitycredential request that includes the both the nonce from the VBS agentand the nonce from the VBS 420, as well as the public key of the VNFinstance on which the VBS agent is initialized. Further, the securitycredential request is signed by the VBS agent using the private key ofthe VNF instance. The security quote, calculated and signed by the TEE476, is the result of a TEE quoting operation, which is described infurther detail in FIG. 11.

At message flow 1008, the VBS 420 verifies the security quote signed bythe TEE 476 that was received from the VBS agent. At message flow 1010,the VBS 420 performs a series of whitelist checks to verify that the VBS420 is configured correctly. Accordingly, in some embodiments, the VBS420 may perform the whitelist checks by verifying the provisioningparameters sent by the TEE 476 that were used to securely provision theVBS 420 (see message flow 804). Additionally or alternatively, in someembodiments, the VBS 420 may perform the whitelist checks by verifyingthat the unique platform identifier received is valid with respect to asecurity policy (e.g., a secure boot policy, a TPM policy, a versioningpolicy, etc.) of the platform on which the TEE that provisioned the VBS420 was instantiated. Additionally, in some embodiments, VBS 420 mayperform the whitelist checks b checking the validity of additionalpolicies, such as for license validity checks (e.g., based on the uniqueVNF instance identifier). Further, in some embodiments, the VBS 420 mayadditionally or alternatively verify whether the VBS agent is approvedto communicate with the VBS 420 as part of the whitelist checks, such asby verifying that the VBS agent has been registered with the VBS 420.

At message flow 1012, the VBS 420 verifies the security credentialrequest by verifying the nonce session and the public key of the VNFinstance received from the VBS agent. To do so, the VBS 420 performs aliveness check to detect any delayed or replay attacks using sessionnonces (i.e., the nonce generated by the VBS agent and the noncegenerated by the VBS 420). The session nonces can be random numbers usedto detect attacks, the values of which are stored associated with theflow corresponding to the messages transmitted therebetween.Accordingly, the session nonces can be check for each flow to detect aliveness (i.e., that the session has not expired) of the communicatedmessages, as well as to distinguish between multiple flows that the VBS420 may be executing.

At message flow 1014, the VBS 420 creates or retrieves a valid securitycredential (e.g., a security certificate, a signed hash result, etc.)upon verification of the security credential request. It should beappreciated that the message flows 1008 through 1014 may be performed inany order, however, in some embodiments, a local security policy may beused by the VBS 420 that provides a timeline for session expiration.Accordingly, the order of the performance of the message flows 1008through 1014 may be based on the number of sessions currently active, orbeing buffered, by the VBS 420, computing resources available to theVBS, session time expiration constraints, etc.

At message flow 1016, the VBS 420 securely transmits a registrationresponse message to the VBS agent. The registration response messageincludes the nonce generated by the VBS agent, the nonce generated bythe VBS 420, a valid security credential, an identifier of the VNFmanager 410 (e.g., an IP address, a DNS, a FQDN, a URL, etc.)responsible for managing the VBS agent, a set of whitelisted VNFmanagers, a set of authorized VNFCs (if applicable), the unique VNFinstance identifier, and one or more policies. The one or more policiesmay include any type of policy that provides direction, or instruction,to the VBS agent on how to perform a particular service or function,such as a security monitoring policy, a networking policy, a networkpacket processing policy, etc. Additionally, the registration requestmessage response is signed by the VBS using the private key of the VBS420. It should be appreciated that, in some embodiments, theregistration response message may include additional and/or alternativeparameters.

It should be appreciated that, in some embodiments, the security quotemay be extensible, for instance to include additional and/or alternativeinformation to support additional components of the platform on whichthe VNF instance is instantiated. For example, the additionalinformation may include a platform capabilities mask, a platform NICand/or switch mask, service function chaining (SFC) policies for aplatform, a list of security credential identifiers, etc. Accordingly,unlike traditional operator cloud networks using static images inunsecure and non-scalable environments, the dynamic nature of the secureVNF bootstrap capture protocol may reduce the amount of, or need for,static configuration and security options, which may allow for moredynamic scaling out/in of virtualized operator cloud networks.

Referring now to FIG. 11, in use, a trusted execution environment (e.g.,the TEE 476 of FIG. 4) may execute a method 1100 for performing a TEEquoting operation for a VBS agent (e.g., the VBS agent 448, the VBSagent 450, or the VBS agent 452 of FIG. 4). The method 1100 begins atblock 1102, in which the TEE applies a hash function to a set of launchparameters of the VBS agent to generate a hash result. The launchparameters may include any parameters that may be used to launch aninstance of the VNF and/or the VBS agent. To do so, at block 1104, theTEE applies the hash function to an image of a VNF instance, adescriptor of the VNF instance, an identifier unique to the VNF instance(i.e., a unique VNF instance identifier), and/or an identifier that isunique to a platform (i.e., a unique platform identifier) on which theVNF instance is instantiated to generate a hash result. Accordingly, theTEE can apply the first hash function when it loads the VNF, since allof the VNF launch parameters are known by the TEE in order to launch theVNF. In other words, the TEE can apply the first hash function withoutreceiving any inputs from the VBS agent.

At block 1106, the TEE applies a hash function to a set of VBSidentifiers of the VBS 420 and one or more of the VBS agent launchparameters to generate a second hash result. The set of VBS identifiersmay include any information that may be used to identify the VBS 420,such as a public key of the VBS 420, an IP address of the VBS 420, a DNSof the VBS 420, a FQDN of the VBS 420, a URL of the VBS 420, and/or thelike. To do so, at block 1108, the TEE applies the hash function to thepublic key of the VBS 420, the IP address of the VBS 420, the unique VNFinstance identifier, the unique platform identifier. In someembodiments, another hash function may be applied to the set of VBSidentifiers of the VBS 420 prior to applying the hash function at block1106. Additionally or alternatively, in some embodiments, the hashresult of the hash function applied at block 1102 may additionally beincluded as an input in the hash function applied at block 1106.

At block 1110, the TEE applies a hash function to a public key of theVNF instance to generate a hash result. It should be appreciated that,in some embodiments, the hash result of the hash function applied atblock 1106 may additionally be included as an input in the hash functionapplied at block 1110. Similar to the first hash function, the TEE canapply the hash function of block 1106 without having received any inputfrom the VBS agent. At block 1112, the TEE applies a hash function toall of the hash results of blocks 1102, 1106, and 1110 to generate afinal hash result. At block 1114, the TEE signs the final hash resultusing a private key of the TEE to generate the security quote.

EXAMPLES

Illustrative examples of the technologies disclosed herein are providedbelow. An embodiment of the technologies may include any one or more,and any combination of, the examples described below.

Example 1 includes a virtual network function (VNF) bootstrap service(VBS) agent of a VNF instance for bootstrapping virtual networkfunctions in a network functions virtualization (NFV) networkarchitecture, the VBS agent comprising a VBS capture protocol executionmodule to (i) transmit a start message to a VBS of the NFV networkarchitecture, wherein the VBS is communicatively coupled to the VBSagent, and wherein the start message provides an indication that the VBSagent is instantiated, (ii) receive a start response message from theVBS in response to transmission of the start message, (iii) transmit aregistration request message to the VBS in response to receiving thestart response message, wherein the registration request messageincludes a security quote usable to authenticate the VBS agent as thetransmitter of the registration request message and a securitycredential request to request a security credential from the VBS, and(iv) receive a registration response message from the VBS, wherein theregistration response message includes a security credential thatindicates that the security quote and the security credential requesthave been validated by the VBS.

Example 2 includes the subject matter of Example 1, and wherein thestart message includes a first nonce, the start response message issigned by the VBS using a private key of the VBS and includes the firstnonce and a second nonce generated by the VBS, the security credentialrequest is signed by the VNF instance using a private key of the VNFinstance and includes the first nonce, the second nonce, and a publickey of the VNF instance, the registration response message is signed bythe VBS using a private key of the VBS and further includes the firstnonce, the second nonce, an identifier of a VNF manager responsible formanaging the VBS agent, a set of VNF managers that are whitelisted, aset of VNF components (VNFCs) authorized by the VBS, a unique VNFinstance identifier, and one or more policies, and the policy includesinstructions usable by the VBS agent to perform a particular function.

Example 3 includes the subject matter of any of Examples 1 and 2, andwherein the VBS capture protocol execution module is further to retrievethe security quote signed by a trusted execution environment (TEE) usinga private key of the TEE, wherein the TEE is located on a platform onwhich the VNF instance is instantiated.

Example 4 includes the subject matter of any of Examples 1-3, andwherein the VBS capture protocol execution module is further to (i)receive an instantiation trigger from an NFV orchestrator of the NFVnetwork architecture, and (ii) initialize the VBS agent, wherein totransmit the start message comprises to transmit the start message inresponse to receiving the instantiation trigger.

Example 5 includes the subject matter of any of Examples 1-4, andwherein to initialize the VBS agent comprises to (i) create apublic/private key pair of the VNF instance, wherein the public/privatekey pair of the VNF instance includes a public key and a private key,and (ii) retrieve the security quote, from a trusted executionenvironment (TEE) of a platform on which the VNF instance was created,wherein the security quote is signed by the TEE using a private key ofthe TEE

Example 6 includes the subject matter of any of Examples 1-5, andwherein the VBS capture protocol execution module is further to (i)generate the security credential request and (ii) sign the securitycredential request using the private key of the VNF instance in responseto having received the start response message from the VBS.

Example 7 includes the subject matter of any of Examples 1-6, andwherein the VBS capture protocol execution module is further to activatethe VNF instance to actively process network traffic received by the VNFinstance in response to having received the security credential.

Example 8 includes the subject matter of any of Examples 1-7, andwherein the VBS capture protocol execution module is further to transmitan indication to a VNF manager of the NFV network architecture thatindicates to the VNF manager that (i) the VNF instance is active and(ii) the configuration of the VNF instance is to be managed by the VNFmanager, wherein the indication includes a VNF instance identifier thatis unique to the VNF instance and usable to add the VNF instance to awhitelist of authorized VNF instances at the VNF manager.

Example 9 includes the subject matter of any of Examples 1-8, andwherein to receive the registration response message from the VBSfurther comprises to receive an identifier of a VNF manager that iscommunicatively coupled to the VBS agent.

Example 10 includes the subject matter of any of Examples 1-9, andwherein to receive the identifier of the VNF manager comprises toreceive at least one of an internet protocol (IP) address, a domain nameserver (DNS), a fully qualified domain name (FQDN), a uniform resourcelocator (URL).

Example 11 includes the subject matter of any of Examples 1-10, andwherein the VBS capture protocol execution module is further to connectto the VNF manager using the identifier of the VNF manager in responseto receiving the identifier of the VNF manager.

Example 12 includes the subject matter of any of Examples 1-11, andwherein the VBS capture protocol execution module is further to transmitVNF license information to the VNF manager in response to havingreceived the identifier of the VNF manager, wherein the VNF licenseinformation includes information usable to track usage of a licenseassociated with the VNF instance.

Example 13 includes a method for bootstrapping virtual network functionsin a network functions virtualization (NFV) network architecture, themethod comprising transmitting, by a VNF bootstrap service (VBS) agentof a VNF instance of the NFV network architecture, a start message to aVBS of the NFV network architecture communicatively coupled to the VBSagent, wherein the start message provides an indication that the VBSagent is instantiated; receiving, by the VBS agent and in response tothe start message, a start response message from the VBS; transmitting,by the VBS agent, a registration request message to the VBS in responseto receiving the start response message, wherein the registrationrequest message includes a security quote usable to authenticate the VBSagent as the transmitter of the registration request message and asecurity credential request to request a security credential from theVBS; and receiving, by the VBS agent, a registration response messagefrom the VBS, wherein the registration response message includes asecurity credential that indicates each of the security quote and thesecurity credential request have been validated by the VBS.

Example 14 includes the subject matter of Example 13, and whereintransmitting the start message comprises transmitting a first nonce,receiving the start response message comprises receiving the startresponse message signed by the VBS using a private key of the VBS andincludes the first nonce and a second nonce generated by the VBS,transmitting the security credential request comprises transmitting thesecurity credential request signed by the VNF instance using a privatekey of the VNF instance and includes the first nonce, the second nonce,and a public key of the VNF instance, receiving the registrationresponse message comprises receiving the registration response messagesigned by the VBS using a private key of the VBS and further includesthe first nonce, the second nonce, an identifier of a VNF managerresponsible for managing the VBS agent, a set of VNF managers that arewhitelisted, a set of VNF components (VNFCs) authorized by the VBS, aunique VNF instance identifier, and one or more policies, and the policyincludes instructions usable by the VBS agent to perform a particularfunction.

Example 15 includes the subject matter of any of Examples 13 and 14, andfurther including retrieving, by the VBS agent, the security quotesigned by a trusted execution environment (TEE) using a private key ofthe TEE, wherein the TEE is located on a platform on which the VNFinstance is instantiated.

Example 16 includes the subject matter of any of Examples 13-15, andfurther including receiving, by the VBS agent, an instantiation triggerfrom an NFV orchestrator of the NFV network architecture; andinitializing the VBS agent, wherein transmitting the start messagecomprises transmitting the start message in response to receiving theinstantiation trigger.

Example 17 includes the subject matter of any of Examples 13-16, andwherein initializing the VBS agent comprises (i) creating apublic/private key pair, wherein the public/private key pair of the VNFinstance includes a public key and a private key, and (ii) retrievingthe security quote from a trusted execution environment (TEE) of aplatform on which the VNF instance was created, wherein the securityquote is signed by the TEE using a private key of the TEE.

Example 18 includes the subject matter of any of Examples 13-17, andfurther including generating the security credential request; andsigning the security credential request using a private key of the VNFinstance in response to having received the start response message fromthe VBS.

Example 19 includes the subject matter of any of Examples 13-18, andfurther including activating the VNF instance to actively processnetwork traffic received by the VNF instance in response to receivingthe security credential.

Example 20 includes the subject matter of any of Examples 13-19, andfurther including transmitting an indication to a VNF manager of the NFVnetwork architecture that indicates to the VNF manager that (i) the VNFinstance is active and (ii) the configuration of the VNF instance is tobe managed by the VNF manager, wherein the indication includes a VNFinstance identifier that is unique to the VNF instance and usable to addthe VNF instance to a whitelist of authorized VNF instances at the VNFmanager.

Example 21 includes the subject matter of any of Examples 13-20, andwherein receiving the registration response message from the VBS furthercomprises receiving an identifier of a VNF manager that iscommunicatively coupled to the VBS agent.

Example 22 includes the subject matter of any of Examples 13-21, andwherein receiving the identifier of the VNF manager comprises receivingat least one of an internet protocol (IP) address, a domain name server(DNS), a fully qualified domain name (FQDN), a uniform resource locator(URL).

Example 23 includes the subject matter of any of Examples 13-22, andfurther including connecting to the VNF manager using the identifier ofthe VNF manager in response to receiving the identifier of the VNFmanager.

Example 24 includes the subject matter of any of Examples 13-23, andfurther including transmitting VNF license information to the VNFmanager in response to having received the identifier of the VNFmanager, wherein the VNF license information includes information usableto track usage of a license associated with the VNF instance.

Example 25 includes a computing device comprising a processor; and amemory having stored therein a plurality of instructions that whenexecuted by the processor cause the computing device to perform themethod of any of claims 13-24.

Example 26 includes one or more machine readable storage mediacomprising a plurality of instructions stored thereon that in responseto being executed result in a computing device performing the method ofany of claims 13-24.

Example 27 includes a virtual network function (VNF) bootstrap service(VBS) agent of a VNF instance of a network functions virtualization(NFV) network architecture for bootstrapping virtual network functionsin the NFV network architecture, the method comprising means fortransmitting a start message to a VBS of the NFV network architecturecommunicatively coupled to the VBS agent, wherein the start messageprovides an indication that the VBS agent is instantiated; means forreceiving, in response to the start message, a start response messagefrom the VBS; means for transmitting a registration request message tothe VBS in response to receiving the start response message, wherein theregistration request message includes a security quote usable toauthenticate the VBS agent as the transmitter of the registrationrequest message and a security credential request to request a securitycredential from the VBS; and means for receiving a registration responsemessage from the VBS, wherein the registration response message includesa security credential that indicates each of the security quote and thesecurity credential request have been validated by the VBS.

Example 28 includes the subject matter of Example 27, and wherein themeans for transmitting the start message comprises means fortransmitting a first nonce, the means for receiving the start responsemessage comprises means for receiving the start response message signedby the VBS using a private key of the VBS and includes the first nonceand a second nonce generated by the VBS, the means for transmitting thesecurity credential request comprises means for transmitting thesecurity credential request signed by the VNF instance using a privatekey of the VNF instance and includes the first nonce, the second nonce,and a public key of the VNF instance, the means for receiving theregistration response message comprises means for receiving theregistration response message signed by the VBS using a private key ofthe VBS and further includes the first nonce, the second nonce, anidentifier of a VNF manager responsible for managing the VBS agent, aset of VNF managers that are whitelisted, a set of VNF components(VNFCs) authorized by the VBS, a unique VNF instance identifier, and oneor more policies, and the policy includes instructions usable by the VBSagent to perform a particular function.

Example 29 includes the subject matter of Examples 27 and 28, andwherein the means for receiving the registration response message fromthe VBS further comprises means for receiving an identifier of a VNFmanager that is communicatively coupled to the VBS agent.

Example 30 includes the subject matter of Examples 27-29, and furtherincluding means for connecting to the VNF manager using the identifierof the VNF manager in response to receiving the identifier of the VNFmanager.

Example 31 includes the subject matter of Examples 27-30, and furtherincluding means for transmitting VNF license information to the VNFmanager in response to having received the identifier of the VNFmanager, wherein the VNF license information includes information usableto track usage of a license associated with the VNF instance.

Example 32 includes a virtual network function (VNF) bootstrap service(VBS) of a network functions virtualization (NFV) network architecturemethod for bootstrapping virtual network functions in the NFV networkarchitecture, the VBS comprising a VBS agent communication module to (i)receive a start message from a VBS agent of a VNF instance of the NFVnetwork architecture that is communicatively coupled to the VBS, whereinthe start message provides an indication that the VBS agent has beeninstantiated, (ii) transmit a start response message to the VBS agent inresponse to receiving the start message, (iii) receive a registrationrequest message from the VBS agent in response to transmitting the startresponse message, wherein the registration request message includes asecurity quote and a security credential request to request a securitycredential from the VBS, (iv) validate, in response to having receivedthe security credential request of the registration request message, thesecurity quote to authenticate the VBS agent as the transmitter of theregistration request message, and (v) transmit, in response tovalidating the security quote, a registration response message to theVBS agent, wherein the registration response message includes a securitycredential that indicates the security quote has been validated by theVBS.

Example 33 includes the subject matter of Example 32 to receive thestart message comprises to receive a first nonce, to transmit the startresponse message comprises to transmit the start response message signedby the VBS using a private key of the VBS, wherein the start responsemessage includes the first nonce and a second nonce generated by theVBS, and to receive the security credential request comprises to receivethe security credential request signed by the VNF instance using aprivate key of the VNF instance, wherein the security credential requestincludes the first nonce, the second nonce, and a public key of the VNFinstance.

Example 34 includes the subject matter of Examples 32 and 33, wherein totransmit the registration response message comprises to transmit theregistration response message signed by the VBS using a private key ofthe VBS, wherein the registration response message further includes thefirst nonce, the second nonce, an identifier of a VNF managerresponsible for managing the VBS agent, a set of VNF managers that arewhitelisted, a set of VNF components (VNFCs) authorized by the VBS, aunique VNF instance identifier, and one or more policies, and whereinthe one or more policies include instructions usable by the VBS agent toperform a particular function.

Example 35 includes the subject matter of Examples 32-34, and whereinthe VBS agent communication module is further to receive a set ofprovisioning parameters from a trusted execution environment (TEE) of aplatform on which the VNF instance was created, wherein the provisioningparameters are usable to securely provision the VBS and include (i) aplatform identifier unique to the platform on which the VNF instance wascreated, (ii) a public key of the VBS, and (iii) a unique identifier ofthe VBS, and provision the VBS based on the provisioning parameters.

Example 36 includes the subject matter of Examples 32-35, and furtherincluding a VBS agent verification module to (i) verify, in response toreceiving the registration request message, an authenticity of thesecurity quote based on a private key of the TEE, wherein the securityquote was signed using the private key of the TEE, (ii) perform awhitelist check to verify a configuration of the VBS, (iii) detect aliveness of the registration request message using the first and secondnonce to ensure the first and second nonce have not expired, and (iv)verify an authenticity of the public key of the VNF instance.

Example 37 includes the subject matter of Examples 32-36, and wherein toperform the whitelist check comprises to verify the provisioningparameters received by the VBS to securely provision the VBS.

Example 38 includes the subject matter of Examples 32-37, and wherein toperform the whitelist check comprises to verify the platform identifiercorresponds to a valid platform identifier of a security policyaccessible by the VBS.

Example 39 includes the subject matter of Examples 32-38, and furtherincluding a VBS agent security credential module to create the securitycredential in response to having (i) verified the authenticity of thesecurity quote and the public key of the VNF instance and (ii) detectedthe registration request message is alive.

Example 40 includes the subject matter of Examples 32-39, and whereinthe VBS agent communication module is further to (i) create a VBSpublic/private key pair that includes a public key and a private key and(ii) sign the start response message using a private key of the VBSpublic/private key pair, wherein to transmit the start response messagecomprises to transmit the signed start response message.

Example 41 includes the subject matter of Examples 32-40, and whereinthe VBS agent communication module is further to sign the registrationresponse message using the private key of the VBS public/private keypair, wherein to transmit the start response message comprises totransmit the signed start response message.

Example 42 includes the subject matter of Examples 32-41, and wherein totransmit the registration response message to the VBS agent comprises totransmit an identifier of a VNF manager that is communicatively coupledto the VBS agent, wherein the identifier is usable to identify the VNFmanager to establish a communication channel with the VNF manager.

Example 43 includes the subject matter of Examples 32-42, and wherein totransmit the identifier of the VNF manager comprises to transmit atleast one of an internet protocol (IP) address, a domain name server(DNS), a fully qualified domain name (FQDN), a uniform resource locator(URL).

Example 44 includes the subject matter of Examples 32-43, and whereinthe VBS agent communication module is further to transmit a VNFactivated message to a VNF manager that is usable by the VNF manager toset up a communication channel with the VNF instance.

Example 45 includes a method for bootstrapping virtual network functionsin a network functions virtualization (NFV) network architecture, themethod comprising receiving, by a VNF bootstrap service (VBS) of the NFVnetwork architecture, a start message from a VBS agent of a VNF instanceof the NFV network architecture that is communicatively coupled to theVBS, wherein the start message provides an indication that the VBS agenthas been instantiated; transmitting, by the VBS and in response toreceiving the start message, a start response message to the VBS agent;receiving, by the VBS and in response to transmitting the start responsemessage, a registration request message from the VBS agent, wherein theregistration request message includes a security quote and a securitycredential request to request a security credential from the VBS;validating, by the VBS and in response to receiving the securitycredential request of the registration request message, the securityquote to authenticate the VBS agent as the transmitter of theregistration request message; and transmitting, by the VBS and inresponse to validating the security quote, a registration responsemessage to the VBS agent, wherein the registration response messageincludes a security credential that indicates the security quote hasbeen validated by the VBS.

Example 46 includes the subject matter of Example 45 receiving the startmessage comprises receiving a first nonce, transmitting the startresponse message comprises transmitting the start response messagesigned by the VBS using a private key of the VBS, wherein the startresponse message includes the first nonce and a second nonce generatedby the VBS, and receiving the security credential request comprisesreceiving the security credential request signed by the VNF instanceusing a private key of the VNF instance, wherein the security credentialrequest includes the first nonce, the second nonce, and a public key ofthe VNF instance.

Example 47 includes the subject matter of Examples 45 and 46, andwherein transmitting the registration response message comprisestransmitting the registration response message signed by the VBS using aprivate key of the VBS, wherein the registration response messagefurther includes the first nonce, the second nonce, an identifier of aVNF manager responsible for managing the VBS agent, a set of VNFmanagers that are whitelisted, a set of VNF components (VNFCs)authorized by the VBS, a unique VNF instance identifier, and one or morepolicies, and wherein the one or more policies include instructionsusable by the VBS agent to perform a particular function.

Example 48 includes the subject matter of Examples 45-47, and furtherincluding receiving, by the VBS, a set of provisioning parameters from atrusted execution environment (TEE) of a platform on which the VNFinstance was created, wherein the provisioning parameters are usable tosecurely provision the VBS and include (i) a platform identifier uniqueto the platform on which the VNF instance was created, (ii) a public keyof the VBS, and (iii) a unique identifier of the VBS; and provisioningthe VBS based on the provisioning parameters.

Example 49 includes the subject matter of Examples 45-48, and furtherincluding verifying, by the VBS and in response to receiving theregistration request message, an authenticity of the security quotebased on a private key of the TEE, wherein the security quote was signedusing the private key of the TEE; performing, by the VBS, a whitelistcheck to verify a configuration of the VBS; detecting, by the VBS, aliveness of the registration request message using the first and secondnonce to ensure the first and second nonce have not expired; andverifying, by the VBS, an authenticity of the public key of the VNFinstance.

Example 50 includes the subject matter of Examples 45-49, and whereinperforming the whitelist check comprises verifying the provisioningparameters received by the VBS to securely provision the VBS.

Example 51 includes the subject matter of Examples 45-50, and whereinperforming the whitelist check comprises verifying the platformidentifier corresponds to a valid platform identifier of a securitypolicy accessible by the VBS.

Example 52 includes the subject matter of Examples 45-51, and furtherincluding creating the security credential in response to having (i)verified the authenticity of the security quote and the public key ofthe VNF instance and (ii) detected the registration request message isalive.

Example 53 includes the subject matter of Examples 45-52, and furtherincluding creating a VBS public/private key pair that includes a publickey and a private key; and signing the start response message using aprivate key of the VBS public/private key pair, wherein transmitting thestart response message comprises transmitting the signed start responsemessage.

Example 54 includes the subject matter of Examples 45-53, and furtherincluding signing the registration response message using the privatekey of the VBS public/private key pair, wherein transmitting the startresponse message comprises transmitting the signed start responsemessage.

Example 55 includes the subject matter of Examples 45-54, and whereintransmitting the registration response message to the VBS agentcomprises transmitting an identifier of a VNF manager that iscommunicatively coupled to the VBS agent, wherein the identifier isusable to identify the VNF manager to establish a communication channelwith the VNF manager.

Example 56 includes the subject matter of Examples 45-55, and whereintransmitting the identifier of the VNF manager comprises transmitting atleast one of an internet protocol (IP) address, a domain name server(DNS), a fully qualified domain name (FQDN), a uniform resource locator(URL).

Example 57 includes the subject matter of Examples 45-56, and furtherincluding transmitting a VNF activated message to a VNF manager that isusable by the VNF manager to set up a communication channel with the VNFinstance.

Example 58 includes a computing device comprising a processor; and amemory having stored therein a plurality of instructions that whenexecuted by the processor cause the computing device to perform themethod of any of Examples 45-57.

Example 59 includes one or more machine readable storage mediacomprising a plurality of instructions stored thereon that in responseto being executed result in a computing device performing the method ofany of Examples 45-57.

Example 60 includes a virtual network function (VNF) bootstrap service(VBS) of a network functions virtualization (NFV) network architecturemethod for bootstrapping virtual network functions in the NFV networkarchitecture, the VBS comprising means for receiving a start messagefrom a VBS agent of a VNF instance of the NFV network architecture thatis communicatively coupled to the VBS, wherein the start messageprovides an indication that the VBS agent has been instantiated; meansfor transmitting, in response to receiving the start message, a startresponse message to the VBS agent; means for receiving, in response totransmitting the start response message, a registration request messagefrom the VBS agent, wherein the registration request message includes asecurity quote and a security credential request to request a securitycredential from the VBS; means for validating, in response to receivingthe security credential request of the registration request message, thesecurity quote to authenticate the VBS agent as the transmitter of theregistration request message; and means for transmitting, in response tovalidating the security quote, a registration response message to theVBS agent, wherein the registration response message includes a securitycredential that indicates the security quote has been validated by theVBS.

Example 61 includes the subject matter of Example 60, and wherein themeans for receiving the start message comprises means for receiving afirst nonce, wherein the means for transmitting the start responsemessage comprises means for transmitting the start response messagesigned by the VBS using a private key of the VBS, wherein the startresponse message includes the first nonce and a second nonce generatedby the VBS, and wherein the means for receiving the security credentialrequest comprises means for receiving the security credential requestsigned by the VNF instance using a private key of the VNF instance,wherein the security credential request includes the first nonce, thesecond nonce, and a public key of the VNF instance.

Example 62 includes the subject matter of Examples 60 and 61, andwherein the means for transmitting the registration response messagecomprises means for transmitting the registration response messagesigned by the VBS using a private key of the VBS, wherein theregistration response message further includes the first nonce, thesecond nonce, an identifier of a VNF manager responsible for managingthe VBS agent, a set of VNF managers that are whitelisted, a set of VNFcomponents (VNFCs) authorized by the VBS, a unique VNF instanceidentifier, and one or more policies, and wherein the one or morepolicies include instructions usable by the VBS agent to perform aparticular function.

Example 63 includes the subject matter of Examples 60-62, and furtherincluding means for receiving a set of provisioning parameters from atrusted execution environment (TEE) of a platform on which the VNFinstance was created, wherein the provisioning parameters are usable tosecurely provision the VBS and include (i) a platform identifier uniqueto the platform on which the VNF instance was created, (ii) a public keyof the VBS, and (iii) a unique identifier of the VBS; and means forprovisioning the VBS based on the provisioning parameters.

Example 64 includes the subject matter of Examples 60-63, and furtherincluding means for verifying, in response to receiving the registrationrequest message, an authenticity of the security quote based on aprivate key of the TEE, wherein the security quote was signed using theprivate key of the TEE; means for performing a whitelist check to verifya configuration of the VBS; means for detecting a liveness of theregistration request message using the first and second nonce to ensurethe first and second nonce have not expired; and means for verifying anauthenticity of the public key of the VNF instance.

1. A virtual network function (VNF) bootstrap service (VBS) agent of aVNF instance for bootstrapping virtual network functions in a networkfunctions virtualization (NFV) network architecture, the VBS agentcomprising: a VBS capture protocol execution module to (i) transmit astart message to a VBS of the NFV network architecture, wherein the VBSis communicatively coupled to the VBS agent, and wherein the startmessage provides an indication that the VBS agent is instantiated, (ii)receive a start response message from the VBS in response totransmission of the start message, (iii) transmit a registration requestmessage to the VBS in response to receiving the start response message,wherein the registration request message includes a security quoteusable to authenticate the VBS agent as the transmitter of theregistration request message and a security credential request torequest a security credential from the VBS, and (iv) receive aregistration response message from the VBS, wherein the registrationresponse message includes a security credential that indicates that thesecurity quote and the security credential request have been validatedby the VBS.
 2. The VBS agent of claim 1, wherein: the start messageincludes a first nonce, the start response message is signed by the VBSusing a private key of the VBS and includes the first nonce and a secondnonce generated by the VBS, the security credential request is signed bythe VNF instance using a private key of the VNF instance and includesthe first nonce, the second nonce, and a public key of the VNF instance,the registration response message is signed by the VBS using the privatekey of the VBS and further includes the first nonce, the second nonce,an identifier of a VNF manager of the NFV network architectureresponsible for managing the VBS agent, a set of VNF managers that arewhitelisted, a set of VNF components (VNFCs) authorized by the VBS, aunique VNF instance identifier, and one or more policies, and the one ormore policies include instructions usable by the VBS agent to perform aparticular function.
 3. The VBS agent of claim 1, wherein the VBScapture protocol execution module is further to retrieve the securityquote signed by a trusted execution environment (TEE) using a privatekey of the TEE, wherein the TEE is located on a platform on which theVNF instance is instantiated.
 4. The VBS agent of claim 1, wherein theVBS capture protocol execution module is further to (i) receive aninstantiation trigger from an NFV orchestrator of the NFV networkarchitecture, and (ii) initialize the VBS agent in response to havingreceived the instantiation trigger, wherein to transmit the startmessage comprises to transmit the start message in response to receivingthe instantiation trigger.
 5. The VBS agent of claim 4, wherein toinitialize the VBS agent comprises to (i) create a public/private keypair of the VNF instance, wherein the public/private key pair of the VNFinstance includes a public key and a private key, and (ii) retrieve thesecurity quote, from a trusted execution environment (TEE) of a platformon which the VNF instance was created, wherein the security quote issigned by the TEE using a private key of the TEE.
 6. The VBS agent ofclaim 5, wherein the VBS capture protocol execution module is further to(i) generate the security credential request and (ii) sign the securitycredential request using the private key of the VNF instance in responseto having received the start response message from the VBS.
 7. The VBSagent of claim 1, wherein the VBS capture protocol execution module isfurther to activate the VNF instance to actively process network trafficreceived by the VNF instance in response to having received the securitycredential.
 8. The VBS agent of claim 7, wherein the VBS captureprotocol execution module is further to transmit an indication to a VNFmanager of the NFV network architecture that indicates to the VNFmanager that (i) the VNF instance is active and (ii) the configurationof the VNF instance is to be managed by the VNF manager, wherein theindication includes a VNF instance identifier that is unique to the VNFinstance and usable to add the VNF instance to a whitelist of authorizedVNF instances at the VNF manager.
 9. The VBS agent of claim 1, whereinto receive the registration response message from the VBS furthercomprises to receive an identifier of a VNF manager of the NFV networkarchitecture that is communicatively coupled to the VBS agent.
 10. TheVBS agent of claim 9, wherein to receive the identifier of the VNFmanager comprises to receive at least one of an internet protocol (IP)address, a domain name server (DNS), a fully qualified domain name(FQDN), a uniform resource locator (URL).